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Make Over Your Meals With Delicious California Avocados

A colorful salad of avocados, macaroni and tomatoes can make a great family meal or picnic dish.

(NAPSI)—Whether you’re enjoying a picnic at the park, grilling up dinner for the family or entertaining friends at a backyard get-together, California avocados can be an excellent ingredient for any meal.

Currently in the peak of their season, California avocados add creamy texture and exceptional flavor to your salads, burgers and favorite dishes while contributing nearly 20 vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients to your diet.

Avocados also are one of the few fruits that deliver “good” monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, providing 3 grams of monounsaturated fats and 0.5 grams of polyunsaturated fats per 1 oz. serving.

“Dishes like summer pasta salads are often loaded with mayonnaise,” explains Bissex. “Our recipe for California Avocado Macaroni Summer Salad features a dressing made with velvety avocados. It’s a delicious update on a classic dish that everyone loves—perfect for picnics and barbecues.”

This can be a great time to take advantage of beautiful, seasonal produce like California-grown avocados to create dazzling dishes with lots of fresh flavors and beneficial nutrients.

Here’s a tip: When you’re preparing the avocados for this recipe, simply nick and peel the skin from the avocado to get to the dark green nutrient-rich fruit directly under the peel.1

2. While the pasta is cooking, place an avocado half in the bowl of a food processor or blender. Add the yogurt, basil, mint, olive oil, two-thirds of the lemon juice, lemon zest, garlic, salt and pepper and process until smooth and creamy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

3. Drain the pasta and place in a large bowl. Cool completely. Stir the dressing into the pasta until well combined. Meanwhile, cut the remaining avocados into ¾-inch dice. Gently stir into the pasta with the tomatoes, corn and the remaining lemon juice.

4. Season with salt and pepper to taste, garnish with additional chopped herbs, and serve.